Lambton County councillors have thrown their support behind a bid by Enbridge to build three battery storage operations in St. Clair Township.

The energy company hopes to build the units on Tecumseh Road, Petrolia Line and Ladysmith Road. Each would generate 200 megawatts of power or enough to power one million homes according to Denise Heckbert, senior advisor on strategy, market strategy and power for Enbridge.

Heckbert says the Independent Electric System Operator called for proposals for battery storage because of “the gap between peak demand and supply” expected as early as 2025 in southwestern Ontario.

Part of the submission for the projects is municipal support; without local municipalities getting on board, the applications are virtually stalled.

St. Clair Township has already given a letter of support to Enbridge. It faced criticism from some landowners who voiced concern about the storage units being on land which had natural gas pipelines.

Enbridge wouldn’t give the value of the sites but in the material provided to council said it “would also result in significant new tax revenue.”

County councillor unanimously sending a letter of support for Enbridge’s projects.

The IESO is expected to award the contracts in mid March.